南嶽總勝集 3.18

3.18

衡山隱者。不知姓名。數因賣藥往來衡岳寺寄宿。或時四五日無所食。僧徒怪之。後復賣藥至僧所眾見不食。知是異人。敬接甚厚。會樂人將女詣寺。其女有色。眾欲取之。父母求五百千俱不引退。隱者聞女嫁。邀僧往看。喜欲取之。仍持金兩鋌正二百兩。謂女父曰。此金直七百貫。今亦不論自金畢將去。樂師時充官使倉卒便別。隱者示其所居云。去此四十餘里。但上山當知也。女父母事畢憶女乃往訪之。正見朱門崇麗叩門。隱者與女俱出迎接。初至一食。便不復饑。留連五六日。亦不思食。父母將還。隱者以五色箱盛黃金五錠贈送。謂父母曰。此間深邃。不復人居此。後無煩更來也。其後父母重往。但見山草荒蕪。不復人居。方知是神仙之窟李泌者。肅宗朝隱於衡山。詔給三品祿賜隱士服為治宮室。泌嘗採松脂以隱背。名曰養和。後得如龍形者。以獻帝。幼曾作詩云。天生吾地載吾。天地生吾有意無。不然絕粒昇天衢。不然鳴珂遊帝都。焉能不貴復不去。空自昂藏一丈夫。一丈夫兮一丈夫。平生志氣多良圖。請君看取百年事。業就扁舟泛五湖。庵基見在煙霞峯。得玄和先生祕語懶殘開發。道業兩全。其詩末句已先見也。

The Hermit of Hengshan: his name and surname are unknown. Because he sold medicines, he often came and went from Hengyue Monastery to lodge there, at times going four or five days without eating anything. The monastic assembly marvelled at him. Later, when he again sold medicines and reached the monks' quarters, the assembly saw that he did not eat and knew he was an extraordinary man, receiving him with great honour. It happened that a musician brought his daughter to the monastery; the girl was beautiful, and many wished to take her [as wife], but the parents asked five hundred strings of cash, so none made a move. When the hermit heard the girl was to be married, he invited the monks to go and look; delighted, he wished to take her, and carried two ingots of gold, exactly two hundred ounces. He said to the girl's father: "This gold is worth seven hundred strings of cash; now without further reckoning, take the gold and depart." The musician was at the time serving as an official emissary and hastily took his leave. The hermit indicated where he lived, saying: "It is forty-odd leagues from here; just go up the mountain and you shall know." When the girl's parents finished their duties and longed for their daughter, they went to seek her. They came upon vermilion gates towering and splendid; knocking on the gate, the hermit and the daughter both came out to welcome them. Upon arrival they ate once, and then were hungry no more; they lingered for five or six days without thinking of food. When the parents were about to return, the hermit presented them with five ingots of yellow gold held in a five-coloured chest, saying to the parents: "This place is deep and secluded, no longer a human dwelling; hereafter, do not trouble yourselves to come again." Later, when the parents went again, they saw only mountain weeds overgrown and wild, no longer a human dwelling. Only then did they know it was a cavern of divine transcendents. As for Li Mi: during the reign of Suzong, he lived in seclusion at Hengshan. An imperial decree granted him the stipend of the third rank, bestowed upon him the robes of a hermit, and built a palace chamber for him. Li once gathered pine resin to lean his back against, naming it "Nourishing Harmony." Later he obtained one shaped like a dragon and presented it to the emperor. In his youth he had composed a poem: / "Heaven birthed me, Earth bears me; / Did Heaven and Earth birth me with intent or not? / If not, let me abstain from grain and ascend the heavenly highway; / If not, let me ride with jingling bridle-bells to roam the imperial capital. / How could I fail to gain honour and yet fail to leave, / Idly standing tall as a manly hero? / A manly hero, ah, a manly hero! / In life my ambitions hold many fine plans. / I pray you look upon the deeds of a hundred years: / When my task is done, in a skiff I shall drift upon the Five Lakes." / The foundation of his hermitage still stands on Yanxia Peak. Having received the secret words of Master Xuanhe and having been awakened by Lancan, he achieved both the Dao and his worldly career. The final line of his poem had already foreseen this.